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Leading youth arts organisation The National Youth Music Theatre (NYMT) are celebrating being awarded the Guinness World Records most complete costume changes in a lead theatrical role – with 37 changes in their production Our House! This record has been achieved by 2024 NYMT company member Des Coghlan-Forbes (17 years old from North Somerset) who plays the titular role of Joe Casey; he is assisted by Costume Designer Molly Fraser and Wardrobe Assistant Lucy Vickers (18 years old from Lincolnshire). With music and lyrics by the iconic British band Madness (with one song, It Must Be Love, written by Labi Siffre), and the book by playwright Tim Firth, the high-energy tour-de-force musical which ran at the Southwark Playhouse, Elephant.
The previous record was held by costume designer Paul Kieve who completed 29 changes in the original West End production of the show with patron and NYMT alumni Olivier award-winner Mike Jibson (Hamilton; Our House; Stranger Things) who originated the role of Joe Casey.
Craig Glenday, Guinness World Records Assessor, comments Guinness World Records is passionate about encouraging young people to take on the challenge of breaking a record, so I was thrilled to be able to witness Des achieve so many quick changes during Our House – some of them in under five seconds. What a remarkably talented young performer! I’ve always been a big fan of TheNational Youth Music Theatre – it’s such an inspirational organization, and as the team has just proved, this versatile family of actors and creatives can turn their hand to anything. Congratulations to Joe, Molly and Lucy for adding such a spectacle to an already awesome night at the theatre.
Concluding the NYMT 2024 companies’ work this summer the PLATFORM (18-26) and CRESENDO (11-18) projects are designed to provide young artists with a prolonged opportunity to both showcase their talents and express their unique artistic identities. It spotlights a company of dynamic and inspiring individuals whose instincts and knowledge have been supported and nurtured in creating a performance alongside a world-class creative team.
Just under a thousand performers auditioned to join the NYMT 2024 company, who will all be following in the footsteps of the newly appointed patrons and further NYMT alumni including multi-award-winning household name Idris Elba, Phantom of the Opera’s Joe Griffiths-Brown, beloved screen and stage icon Sheridan Smith, and Les Misérables’ Rosy Church. The newly appointed patrons include previous alumni – critically acclaimed Matt Lucas, the award-winning Amara Okereke and It’s a Sin’s Callum Scott Howells. Industry professionals delivered audition workshops at 19 venues across the UK at the start of the year. Alongside these, NYMT has seen an increase in applications to join the company as Musicians and the Creative Team Mentorship Scheme.
The NYMT are committed to delivering top-quality professional development and this year are releasing new courses for not only stage performers but also for people who are interested in being Creative, Writers or want to work in Technical Theatre. These are non-residential courses in London that include watching a Technical and dress rehearsal at Southwark Playhouse as well as working with Industry Professionals. It offers skills workshops, masterclasses, and residential courses. Everyone is welcome to get involved and NYMT is committed to making musical theatre and the professional industry more accessible to young people across the country, regardless of location or economic circumstances. National Youth Music Theatre (NYMT) has a long-standing commitment to an inclusive and accessible ethos. This year NYMT is offering £31,000 of bursaries from their bursary system to support under-resourced families.
GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ most complete costume changes in a lead theatrical role – https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/most-costume-changes-demanded-by-a-lead-theatrical-role
https://southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/productions/our-house/
